Rush of Blood
by Tira Faerywing
Summary: SG-1 is sent to a new planet while Sam is struggling to deal with her feelings towards Jack, but while they are there, the team begins to act strangely. Will they figure it out before its too late?


Title: Rush of Blood  
  
Author: Tira Faerywing  
  
Warnings: Bad writing, crappy plot, scientific leeway, butchering of personalities of characters, oh yeah, and everyone's favourite, loads of sex. (That comes later) don't know how graphic just yet.  
  
Disclaimer: Don't own 'em, now you know what to get me for Christmas next year.  
  
Author's notes: DANIEL IS A HOTTIE!!! Oh yeah, and this is my first fanfic for stargate, and its really crappy, so please be nice with your reviews. And I thought of the title in like 2 seconds, so it will probably have very little to do with the story. And NO it is not a rip off of Coldplay. (Even though I love them too).  
  
Rush of Blood  
  
Chapter 1: Stirrings  
  
Major Samantha Carter awoke to the harsh shriek of her alarm clock. Reluctantly she slammed down her hand on the snooze button. Groggily, she took a moment to brace herself and then slithered from beneath the comforter.  
  
The room was cold compared to beneath the sheets, and it sent a chill up Sam's spine. Her nipples stood erect and she covered herself with her arms. Again, she had stayed up late doing work, and with a 7:00 briefing she decided it would be better for her to stay in the base quarters instead of driving all the way home.  
  
Even though the room was it's normal temperature, it always seemed colder in the morning. Sam wiped the crust from her eyes and glanced in the mirror. Her eyes were dark and her face seemed to sag. Carter rubbed her face and for a moment and forced a smile. It wasn't something that she usually did, but she usually got more sleep. Lately she had been getting less and less, and her dreams became more and more troubled. Perhaps later she would see Janet about some sleeping pills. They hadn't seen each other for awhile and she was looking forward to seeing her again.  
  
Carter slipped on some clean pants and walked down the hallway to the shower room. She stepped into the steaming shower with relief. She let herself smile as the hot water washed away the troubles of the night before. The water relaxed her tired and aching muscles, but also gave her time to think about the cause for her distressed sleeping patterns.  
  
The showers on the base were private, and Sam took a moment after she dressed to look at herself in the mirror. She studied her face and figure, and after several moments came to the conclusion that she wasn't fat, ugly, disfigured or repulsive. In fact, she was better than just not repulsive, she looked quite good for no make-up. Also she seemed to have a slightly weathered look from the stress of the missions, she looked young, healthy and athletic. Carter turned to the side slightly. Her pants were lose on her now. She had lost some weight.  
  
Just another sign you aren't well.  
  
Carter ignored the little voice in her head, and made herself smile. She was an attractive woman. She repeated it to herself several times over. She wasn't gorgeous, but she was attractive.  
  
You're so conceited.  
  
But she had reason to be.  
  
Carter dropped her hands to her side with a sigh. She wasn't as young as she acted anymore. Most of her peers were already married and had kids. Some were even already divorced. Sam thought back to her childhood when she would talk with her friends about 'Mr. Right' and her perfect wedding. Carter was never one to be overly feminine but she had dreams.  
  
What had gone wrong? When she was twelve, she thought she would be married and having kids by now. She picked up her things with that thought in mind. Was it her or them?  
  
Yeah sure, she had her career to think of. She had worked hard as a female in the military to be recognized and she had worked night and day to get the respect and recognition that she had now. She was a strong, driven, attractive, independent and successful woman, but wasn't that a good thing? She must have saved the world a dozen times by now, wasn't that enough? Someone had to appreciate that, even just a little.  
  
Sam found herself back in her quarters, sitting down on her bed, lost in thought. She glanced at the clock and saw it was only 6:20, she still had 40 minutes to go. Sam gathered her report and notes together, still musing about why no guy had really pursued a long term relationship with her. She was perfect, what was wrong?  
  
Then it struck her. How could she have been such an idiot? She wasn't perfect, in her perfection lay her flaw. She was intimidating. She had such high standards for herself, how could any man possibly live up to that? How could he compete with saving the world? And perhaps, just maybe, there was a chance that she was subconsciously driving them away in favour of a career. When was the last time she went to a bar?  
  
Sam swallowed hard and walked out of her room confidently, perfectly hiding the thoughts racing through her mind.  
  
The briefing room was a familiar and comfortable environment where she could surround herself with her friends. Carter didn't just trust the other members of her team, she loved them. Sometimes a little more than she thought the military would like her to.  
  
These were her friends who knew her the most, or perhaps the least. It was a strange life to be married to the military. You had your social life and non-military friends who knew you from childhood. They knew stories and secrets. They not only knew you, but who you used to be. However, they couldn't know everything about you.  
  
Your team mates knew the other part. They knew the hurt, the stress and the extreme. A dear friend of Carter had once said that you never really knew a man until you saw him stare death in the eyes. And it had never proven wrong. Death made everyone's true colours come out.  
  
Carter sat down in the empty room, waiting. She was always insanely early for meetings. She kept telling herself it gave her time to collect herself. Sam got up as soon as she sat down to make some coffee. The shower had relaxed her, but perhaps too much. She still felt more fatigued than before.  
  
Sam sat back down and stared at the notes and papers as the sound of percolating water filled the room. She furrowed her eyebrows as she read the mission details; a sign that she was in deep thought. Sam's vision blurred after two or three minutes, and the faint throb of a headache began.  
  
"God dammit," Carter rubbed her forehead and had to get up to check the coffee. The headaches were becoming more and more frequent. Stop fooling yourself. You hurt no one but yourself.  
  
Relentlessly she continued her work despite the dull ache.  
  
The data was vague at best. A fairly simple civilization with primitive tools and structure. Mostly agriculturally based, but it was shown that they had advanced hunting techniques. They seemed peaceful but it was recommended to proceed with caution. Why was not exactly outlined.  
  
Carter was a little apprehensive, she had seen a dozen cultures like this. With such a small population, all it took was one bad event, one superstitious person and they had lost all diplomatic connections. She had seen it gone bad before. They were too scared of change or anything new.  
  
Carter hadn't even notice the time fly as she was analysing the information from the surveillance reports. A groan came from the door and her head whipped around to see Daniel enter the room, coffee in hand. Daniel gave Carter a questioning stare as he sat down.  
  
He tried not to pry, but he could tell immediately Sam wasn't herself.  
  
"Sam?" Daniel got her attention, she had too quickly focussed her attention back to the report. She usually at least gave a friendly greeting.  
  
"Hm?" Sam looked up with her deer-caught-in-headlights look. She was cute beyond all belief. She looked so young and innocent when she did that.  
  
Daniel hesitated, "Are you okay? You look... tired."  
  
Sam hated it when Daniel could read her like that. He had this uncanny way of reading everyone when they didn't want to be read. He always saw deeper into things than everyone else. He might as well add body language to his ever growing number of languages that he knew.  
  
"I'm fine," Sam smiled and tried her best to act herself. But the truth was that she didn't feel herself. She felt off, like a late period made you feel uncomfortable and self-conscious. She piled all her papers together. Without noticing, she had spread them out over a good portion of the desk.  
  
"How long have you been here?" Daniel inquired, not lifting his eyes from the mess around Sam.  
  
"I didn't get a chance to read the surveillance reports before, so I came a little early." Liar. You always come this early, whether you read the report or not. "I'm really that bad, aren't I?" Sam laughed at her own nerdiness.  
  
"I think we've all been there," Daniel thought back to his university days, showing up early for class, doing extra projects to get on the teacher's good side, staying up all night working on papers...  
  
"Daniel," Carter began. It was obvious she was in thought. But before Daniel could answer, the familiar squeakish groan of the door opening filled the room again. Teal'c took his seat across from Carter.  
  
Daniel stared at Carter expectantly, but she shook her head slightly, keeping her eyes on her papers. Teal'c noticed the odd transaction and raised his eyebrow like he always did.  
  
"Did I interrupt?"  
  
"No," Carter assured Teal'c and got up to get some much needed coffee.  
  
There was an uncomfortable silence for a moment and it made Carter's ears burn. She didn't know this was such a big deal. She was over 30 and single. No biggie. But it was a big deal because she was making a big deal about it. No one else cared, no one else noticed. It was all her. Her fault for not making herself more available, and her fault for overreacting. She had to stop this.  
  
Daniel let go and forgot about what Sam was about to say. He stopped staring at Sam and looked down at the files in front of him. Not that he didn't mind looking at Sam, she was smart and beautiful, but when Daniel met her, he was married. Now with the death of Shaur'e, he was technically available, but he had moved so far into the frame of mind of Carter as a friend that he couldn't seriously see her any other way. Besides, the military would probably have something to say about it.  
  
Next to arrive was General Hammond in a more chipper mood than usual. Carter ignored her own troubled thoughts and focused her attention on her friends. She wondered briefly about how everyone else was doing. Were they hiding similar troubles as her? No one had ever truly confided in her often. She thought of the men around her as best friends, better yet, a surrogate family. Yet no matter what mission they went on, or world threat they faced, they still found it necessary to be professional and not to create deeper friendships than necessary.  
  
Carter saw the General and knew that she would probably never know why he was feeling better than usual today. Sam stopped herself. That was far too pessimistic. Everyone did talk to each other, and everyone did share things that they were comfortable sharing. So the fault, again, lay in Carter. She was the one that couldn't share her feelings.  
  
Carter took another sip of her coffee and checked the time. Ten minutes left. She had reviewed enough of the data to ask questions and participate in the briefing. Perhaps she would try to have more conversations with her teammates, it was a small step, but a step in the right direction.  
  
"Anyone see the game last night?" Carter asked, coffee in hand.  
  
"Uhh... No," Daniel looked up from his work, shook his head and then looked back down at his papers.  
  
Teal'c didn't answer. He probably didn't even know what game she was talking about.  
  
"Sorry Major," General Hammond shook his head when Sam stared at him.  
  
Carter sighed, she was too engrossed in her work to watch it, and she didn't have time to catch the news.  
  
What was she supposed to do now? She could ask everyone what they did last night, but she already knew their answers. Daniel was translating an especially difficult rune found two missions ago. He was like her in that he couldn't put something down until he figured it out.  
  
Teal'c didn't have much of a social life. He exercised, trained and performed kel-no-reem. Occasionally Jack dragged him fishing, but other than that, he was pretty much on the base most of the time. Although, he did have a secret collection of Star Wars and 3 Stooges tapes that weren't so secret.  
  
General Hammond probably spent the night with his wife. He didn't get a lot of time with her with the Stargate program demanding a lot of his time, but that was a give-in. Last night though, there were no global threats, missing teams or late missions. It was a rare moment, and he probably took advantage of it to be a normal husband and father.  
  
Carter leaned by in her chair. The only mystery was Jack, who was spontaneous and unpredictable. Unfortunately, he was the only one not present. He was never late, but never early either, and oddly enough, never in a rush. How he did it, Sam could never guess.  
  
Everyone else seemed to think that the silence was comfortable, except for Sam. What was wrong with her? Maybe it was the lack of sleep making her act strange.  
  
Suddenly Sam wished there was a window to stare out of. Unconsciously, she picked up a pencil and began doodling. As she became more aware of what she was doing, her doodles became atoms, which then transformed into molecules.  
  
Sam became more involved and began to concentrate, she began joining the atoms together and after about 5 minutes, Daniel looked up to see what Carter was doing. The movement of her hand had distracted him, only proving how tired and unfocused he was.  
  
"What's that?" Daniel asked, curious. He knew it was a chemical, but couldn't figure out which one.  
  
Carter's head shot up and she looked at the complex group of atoms.  
  
Sam gave a short snort, "Calcium cyanide." Carter laughed a little.  
  
"Oh," Daniel was surprised, but not alarmed. He knew what it was like to be bored. For minds like his and Sam's, it was hell just for five minutes of boredom. Once, out of sheer boredom, he had created his own perfect language, with simplified grammar, and no exceptions to any of his rules. He created his own alphabet and conjugation method. It was his baby. He had never finished his dictionary of it, and if he really looked hard, he might find it again, and start back on it.  
  
Daniel chuckled softly. Calcium cyanide indeed.  
  
"I am unaware of this substance," Teal'c stated, which in his own way was more of a question.  
  
"It's a very poisonous chemical," Sam tried to explain, "You see, when it..." but Carter was interrupted by the sound of the door groaning open.  
  
"You know, we really have to fix that thing," Colonel O'Neill complained as he sat down next to Carter, "It makes sneaking in late without being noticed impossible."  
  
Quickly, Sam glanced at her watch. 6:59. He was right on time.  
  
Jack looked puzzled at the, now quite large, doodle that took over half of Sam's page, "I'm not even going to ask."  
  
"That would be wise," Teal'c warned the Colonel. He was secretly relieved that Sam wasn't going to go into one of her lectures.  
  
"Uh, Carter," Jack whispered as he looked at General Hammond who was about to begin, "could you let me borrow..." but Jack was cut off as Sam slid over her notes to him.  
  
Jack smiled, "Thanks." He looked at them, and the words all seemed to meld together into one big pile of gibberish. To him, it looked closer to spit ball material than useable data.  
  
General Hammond began and explained what they knew about the culture, which was already outlined in the report in front of them. Enlarged surveillance pictures flashed behind him. Jack rubbed the bridge of his nose irritably.  
  
"So?" Colonel O'Neill asked once Hammond was finished.  
  
"Excuse me?" the General asked.  
  
"I mean, why do we care so much about 600 farmers, I mean, I'm sure they're a lovely bunch, but they seem kinda... boring," Jack was never one to screw around. He said what he meant. They would only send SG-1 if there was something that they wanted in return from these people. There had to be a hitch or a catch somewhere.  
  
It took Hammond a moment to fully understand what Jack meant.  
  
Hammond nodded his head, "We did get this picture, and density scans revel that there may be large diamond deposits." A picture of a mountain was shown, a couple miles from the farmland.  
  
"We are prepared to teach them better farming techniques and give them better tools in return for mining rights. As you can see, it is extremely important to maintain positive relations with these people. I want you to be very careful with this one," General Hammond turned off the projector with his remote control that he was using to change the pictures and sat down.  
  
"So just give them the old Earth charm and get millions of dollars of diamonds in return. Sounds simple enough," O'Neill flashed one of his smiles.  
  
Carter felt a flutter in her chest. Every time she was around him, she always felt that pang. He was truly gorgeous, and it shocked her almost each time she saw him. She may have had years of military experience, but at heart, she was still a school-girl sometimes.  
  
"Anymore questions?" the General scanned over SG-1. He couldn't help but feel a little nervous about the mission. There was more on the line then he was telling, but he didn't need to put them under more pressure then necessary. "Then you leave at 14:00 hours. Dismissed."  
  
Sam got up and put on her jacket to leave. Just as she was going out the door, Jack called after her. "Carter!"  
  
She turned around and nearly bumped right into him, "Yes sir?"  
  
"You forgot your report," he handed her the papers and she let her heart beat again. She truly was driving herself insane. She needed to talk to Janet. 


End file.
